Empower Your Child's Mathematical Skills and Have Fun with Subitising Games
A Parent's Guide to supporting learning
Quickly glancing at these photos, can you see how many are in a group?
The Superpower of Subitising: What it is and How it Helps Your Child Learn Maths?
We can look at a pair of shoes and we know that there are 2 shoes without counting "one, two". This special ability is called subitising two. Research has shown that babies know the difference between one, two and lots. We could even subitise two as a baby!
As your child develops an understanding of counting and learns to recognise amounts they will :
⁎ learn to say "three" as part of a rhyme
⁎ learn to touch and count objects one at a time "one, two, three"
⁎ learn to understand that the last number said "three" can label the group.
When you know how ... it's a challenge to apreciate all these steps!
If your child also practises subitising they will have a visual picture of three memorized in their amazing brain.
Subitising: Much More Than Just Counting
When your child learns to subitise three and four as well as two and one they will have visual picture memories of these numbers.
This is so helpful.
When a child plays with the conkers or looks at this picture, they can see many relationships. For example, 1 + 3 = 4, 3 + 1 = 4, 4 - 1 = 3, and 4 - 3 = 1.
A child with visual memories of these numbers does not need pictures or objects to understand the relationships. WOW.
Subitising Made Easy: Fun Activities to Take Your Child from Counting to Subitising up to 5
Magic Counting Beans: A Powerful, Practical Way to Bring Maths to Life and Introduce Subitising
Make a set of counting beans by colouring one side of some dried beans with sticky dots, acrylic paint or nail varnish.
Watch the video for more details.
☺If you have a favourite dice game try playing by taking turns to throw five beans instead of a dice. Count the number of beans that land coloured side up as your score.
or try
Who Will Throw the Highest Number?
This game helps your child:
- Subitise to 5
You will need:
- 5 counting beans each
- small treats (e.g. raisins, cereal hoops, savoury hoops)
☺ Each player throws 5 counting beans.
☺ Players score the number of their beans that land coloured side up.
☺ The player with the biggest score collects a treat.
☺ Play lots of times
★ Pass it on ★ Separate out your coloured beans and for your scores of one or two name the score out loud. To begin with for scores of three, four or five you could arrange the beans in a pattern to make them easier to subitise.
☺ Try this: the player with the smallest score collects a treat, or the player with a 'magic' score of e.g. 5 collects a treat.
Play games with special, easy to make, subitising dice to help your child learn to subitise three, four and five
Use one of these free subitising dice templates to print and make a fun subitising dice.
Play the lucky dice
subitising game
☺ Play a favourite game throwing a one to six dotty dice and a subitising dice on each turn. Choose which dice score to use
★ Pass it on ★ On your turn talk about why you have chosen a particular dice score. Brain science has revealed that the best maths learning takes place as you play a game involving choice!
Play the Razzle-dazzle subitising to 5 dice game
This game helps your child:
- Subitise numbers to 5
You will need:
- a subitising dice for each player
☺ Choose a silly word e.g. razzle-dazzle and a subitising dice each.
☺ Say "ready,steady,go" and each throw your dice.
☺ Race to say the silly word if the scores match.
Try Picture Power: Practising Subitising Three, Four and Five with Real-Life Photos
Experience the magic of numbers in real life with the Number Chase collection of subitising photos!
The Pattern Puzzle:How does our Amazing Brain Learn to Subitise Numbers Beyond 5
As you Watch this Slideshow, What do you Notice?
As far as we know, our brains cannot subitise more than five. We can only do this by using a known pattern, like the six dots on a dice. We can also see groups of up to five and combine them.
Our brains are incredibly adept at recognizing patterns, and this is key to subitising numbers beyond five. By recognizing patterns, our brains can quickly and easily make sense of larger groups of objects without having to count them one by one.
As your child learns these advanced subitising skills, they will notice more complex patterns and connections between numbers. They will memorise powerful visual images. These images will support them to be confident as they learn more advanced math concepts. Finding fun ways to help your child practise subitising beyond five will give them a strong foundation for mathematical success well into the future.
Mastering Subitising to 10: Games and Activities that Unleash the Power of Pattern Recognition
Fun Subitising Activities with an Egg box!
to Help your Child Master subitising six, seven, eight, nine and ten.
Objects need to be arranged in a regular pattern or in groups of five or less for it to be possible for your child to subitise more than five.
An egg box tens frame is brilliant for this. For example, if your child learns subitising three and five, a tens frame makes it possible to subitise eight as five and three more.
Play this Egg-citing subitising game
This game helps your child:
- Subitise numbers 6-10
You will need:
- An egg box for ten eggs
- 10 pebbles/shells/miniature toys
- A set of number cards 6,7,8,9,10
☺ Take turns
☺ Player 1 secretly collects 6,7,8,9 or 10 pebbles and arranges them in the box.
☺ Player 2 chooses a card from 6,7,8,9 or 10.
☺ Player 1 then opens the box only as long as it takes to count "one eggy peggy, two eggy peggy" (about 2 seconds)
☺ Player 2 shouts "Eggtastic" if they think that the box contains the number of pebbles to match their card.
☺ Players then open the box and share figuring out how many pebbles it contains.
★ Pass it on ★ On your turn to arrange the pebbles, start with five in the top row and fill the next row from left to right. On your turn to shout "eggtastic", talk about any groups that you see that help you to subitise.
Or try...
Make two sets of counting beans for example - five with blue dots and five with red dots.
☺Play a favourite dice game by taking turns to throw the two sets of beans instead of a dice. Count the number of beans that land coloured side up as your score.
★ Pass it on ★ On your turn , for larger scores, arrange the blue beans in one group and the red beans in another.
☺ Try allowing your child to choose how many beans to throw to take their understanding of number and chance to the next level.
★ Pass it on ★
Try asking for example “Why have you chosen to throw... eight beans?”
Or try
Play throw the biggest number as above with the two sets of counting beans.
Share watching these subitising videos
Subitising to 100 activities
Try this special interactive online slavonic abacus . With practice, using the coloured patterns, your child will learn to subitise the groups of 10, then subitise a group of 50 and then for example recognise two more complete rows beyond 50 with four extra as seventy-four with ease -AMAZING.
Try out the games to play and help your child build powerful subitising skills up to 100.
Try more topics from the Numberchase parent advice hub
Why playing games is a brilliant way to help your child with maths at home.
How to help a child with maths anxiety
How to avoid tears when your child has a times tables test
Please let me know if you have a topic idea for the numberchase advice hub. Sue @numberchase.co.uk
